


Alien Items

by W01FS0NG



Series: Torchwood: Rift Files [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Firefly, Sherlock (TV), Torchwood
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Flashbacks, Gen, Hallucinations, Minor Character Death, Refrence to Battle of the Canary Warf, Refrence to Children of the Earth, Sonic Screwdriver, Trap Street, What is a Sonic Screwdriver?, brain games, coma ward, figuring out life is hard, poor John doesn't really know what's going on, post season 3 of Torchwood, season 1 of Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-20 16:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W01FS0NG/pseuds/W01FS0NG
Summary: While still trying to figure out life after Jack left, Aurelia (an empath from the future) is asked to investigate strange deaths which catapults her right into a certain consulting detective.
Series: Torchwood: Rift Files [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195661
Kudos: 2





	1. Exchange of Hands

**Author's Note:**

> This is part three of my series Torchwood: Rift Files involving a girl who became trapped in the twenty-first century. Please feel free to check out my other works in this series.

Aurelia Arellano missed Ianto. Probably not as much as Jack, but she really did miss him. The now eighteen-year-old really hated the five days in which the children of the earth were in danger. Heck, if she were seven years younger, she would have been one of them. She hated the aliens, she hated that they resorted to using Jack’s grandson to destroy the aliens. The teen had to step out of the facility because the emotional pain was too great.

Most of all, she just missed people. Jack was off traveling the galaxy, leaving her to fend for herself (which she could have easily done if the Hub wasn’t blown to bits on the first day). The warehouse Ianto gave them was good for a new Torchwood 3, though. Gwen and Rhys were kind enough to offer her their couch to sleep on, but somehow it didn’t feel right. Besides, they were going to have a kid and Aurelia was  _ not  _ going to be the surrogate babysitter. 

Agent Johnson, leader of the Special-Ops that was tasked with murdering Torchwood (and ultimately failed) offered Aurelia a spot on the team. The teen turned that down as well.

Maybe she could use the money she got from working at Torchwood to buy herself a flat. But where would it be, anyway? She loved Cardiff, and she loved Wales. Yet, while over there, she was beginning to like London. As it stood now, Torchwood One was no more, Torchwood Three was in shambles, Torchwood Four went missing, and Torchwood Two might still be running. Maybe she should go live in Glasgow and work for them if that was the case.

For now though, Aurelia just wanted to wallow in the warehouse.

She remembered, in the old days, the times when Ianto and her would play games. Not board games, or anything like that, but verbal ones.

_ Jones walked up to her one day and stated, “I have seven words for you.” _

_ Arellano smiled, knowing that he just said seven words. “I have three,” she responded. _

_ “Two words.” _

_ “One.” _

_ He paused. The corners of his lips soon curled up. “Well, I might have eleven words I think you would enjoy.” _

_ It would go on and on. Sometimes, it changed. _

_ “This sentence starts with this and ends with that.” _

_ “That sentence starts with that and ends with this.” _

_ “My sentence starts with my and ends with dog.” _

It was just a complete back and forth. When he was alive, Owen would have scoffed at them, finding it borderline annoying. When Toshiko was alive, she thought it was cute and even joined in on the occasion. But now, the three of them were dead.

The three of them were dead and Jack is traveling the galaxy trying to rid himself of guilt from, well, everything. Traveling the world for six months wasn’t enough for him.

It’s September 2010 now. More than a full year had passed since those infamous five days. Somehow, Agent Johnson got the young adult to meet her in a discreet location.

“What is this about, Johnson?” she asked the woman. “You’re not going to try and recruit me again, are you?”

The agent smiled and briefly glanced at the ground. “No, but I do have something for you I think is up your alley.” She handed her a file encased in a manila folder. Aurelia took the folder and studied its contents. It showed dead bodies with a hole in them that only a laser could cause. The burned skin around the holes backs that theory up. Although, the laser would have had to be very thin and precise. The deaths started in Cardiff before shifting into London. Plus, the victims all used to work for a certain company that was really just a front for the government.

“You’re right, It is.” A realization stopped her. “Why would this be on your radar?”

“Because it’s strange,” Johnson said first. “And because I used to work with one of the vics a long time ago.”

“So this is personal?” Oh gods, Aurelia hated when a case became personal. It muddled so many things. Eighteen-year-old wondered what circumstances would have brought the man his death. Was it purposeful? Or did it happen to be accidental?

The Special-Ops woman held up her hands in surrender. “I promise I won’t interfere.”

Arellano shrugged. “I’ll have to take your word for it. Security cameras?”

“Destroyed.” The girl mentally sighed. Of course it was.

“What was the occupation of the other victims?”

“They worked at a jewelry store.” So, this was a theft plot? Maybe Johnson’s old buddy worked Security for them. Either that, or he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This robbery might have gone completely wrong or completely right. “Do you have any idea on what could have caused these wounds? There is no way in Hell that those are bullet wounds. The exit wound is the same size as the entrance.”

Just as the teen was about to say phasers or blasters, she substituted it with, “You ever seen Star Wars or Star Trek?” The woman nodded. “The weapon you’re looking for is like a gun, but instead of bullets, it shoots lasers. I’m pretty sure Unit has weapons like this. Otherwise, a weapon like it could have slipped through the Rift from who knows where. I have some contacts that might be able to help out.” Their eyes locked. “Can I have this?”

“Sure, this was a copy anyway.” As the young adult was about to leave, the woman added, “And you still have my number, right?”

“Of course.” 

Aurelia took the train to London and went to Trap Street, a refugee camp for aliens located in the center of England’s capital. For anyone else it would take a very long while. The place is shielded by perceptions just like the Hub’s Rift Lift, as Ianto called it. Luckily, she’s also had the privilege of visiting there before. The first time, she had been Retconned. The second time, she was let in, and assured entrance with every visit.

Ashildr could be quite helpful at times. Even though Aurelia would love to converse with her, she was not who the young woman wanted to see. In fact, she sought out a particular Sontaran. One could say he was a weapons expert.

Drax sat at an outside table of the pub. The man nursed a couple of buds. The young woman spotted a Voord leaning against the wall of another building. A Silurian walked across from him. 

“Hey Drax,” she said as she sat down at his table. 

“Hello, Aurelia,” he greeted after taking a sip of his alcohol. “What can I do for you today?”

The young woman placed the Manila folder on the wooden surface. “Take a look at the wounds for me, would ya?”

The Sontaran took the file in his hands and studied the pictures. “Hmmm. It doesn’t look like a wound that would come from a Sontaran weapon. Nor from Unit, and definitely not from a Dalek or Cyberman. We can also rule out Judoon, and the Zygon.” He hummed again in thought. “I’d say it might be a Thal weapon.”

Thal. That made sense. Their blasters were compact enough to produce a laser as small as the ones that pierced these victim’s bodies. However, last she heard, the Thals had committed themselves to peace. The only way this could work out was if they came here through the Rift.

Thals were light-skinned, had brown hair, and very light eyes. They're easy to spot in a crowd by a long shot.

“Thank you for your time, Drax,” Aurelia stated as she stood, gathering the papers back into the folder. “Until we meet again.”

“Let it be soon, my dear,” the Sontaran said happily.

After scanning the crowd, the eighteen-year-old quickly spotted a Thal. They locked eyes for just a moment as she wandered over to him. This man was new to her. He wasn’t there when she came last. As she approached him, he went into a back alley.

“Hey!” Aurelia shouted, getting his attention.

The Thal male turned around with a scared look on his face. “It’s not what you think!” He shouted. “Blowfish stole my weapons and went on a killing and robbery spree.” Maybe he wasn’t from a time when the Thal, Kaled, and Dals warred. 

Much to this man’s credit, Aurelia could feel that he was telling the truth. He was genuinely worried. A blaster bolt sounded. Soon, the Thal hit the ground. A tiny hole could be seen in his head. She felt the presence of four other people.

“Hands up, copper!” Turning around, the young adult found four of them standing behind her. They all had Thal style weapons. 

She should have seen this coming. Blowfish have a certain weakness when it comes to human pleasures. These aliens also commit a wide variety of crimes. Robbing a jewelry store wouldn’t be too far gone.

Aurelia sighed as turned around and got into a fighting stance. “Come on, boys, do we really need to do this?”

—————

“I’m just saying that if I’m on a date with someone, you shouldn’t spoil it by exposing her entire history to everyone in the coffee shop,” John told him. He and Sherlock were in mid conversation near the heart of London. But the detective seemed utterly distracted. “Are you even listening to me?!”

Sherlock heard him, of course, but chose to instead say, “Something’s off with this street, John.”

“Really?” The army rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of this. The man was about to tell him something else when a young woman ran into Sherlock. She managed to knock him into the ground.

“I’m so sorry,” she told him, before running off again. Two men ran after her. The army vet could have sworn he saw fins coming out of their heads.

“Sherlock, you alright?” John asked as he walked towards his flat mate. He extended his hand to help him up, but the tall man didn’t take it.

“She’s American,” Sherlock observed, as he stood to his feet. John rolled his eyes, thinking: of course he’d fixate on her. Holmes’ reached into one of his pockets. He pulled out a device he’s never seen before. “And she put this in my pocket.”

“What is it?” John questioned, taking a closer look at it.

“I don’t know, and I don’t like not knowing.” He glanced around the street. “Where’d she go?”

“Uhh…” The two men couldn’t spot her in the crowd. The high-functioning sociopath rolled his eyes and huffed out of annoyance. They lost her along with whoever or whatever was chasing her.

Once they got back to their flat, Sherlock wouldn’t take his eyes off the mysterious tiny machine. He kept mumbling to himself as he studied it. “It’s not a weapon. It-it doesn’t fire anything. It beeps, there’s buttons. There’s some type of symbols that appear on the side…” on and on he went.

“Boys! There’s someone here to see you!” shouted Mrs. Hudson from downstairs.

“Tell them we’re busy!” Sherlock shouted back.

John rolled his eyes. As he was about to tell the woman to let the person up, Hudson shouted, “She says she knows what the strange device is!”

The detective stopped what he was doing. The doctor could have sworn he saw the smallest bit of a smile. “Send her up!” Holmes yelled. 

The young woman who bumped into him on the street walked up to their living room. “I see you’re trying to figure it out,” she smiled. “Want me to tell you or do you want to take several more hours to try?”

His brows creased. “Are you implying what I think you are?”

She shrugged. “That you’re not as smart as you think you are? No, but there are a lot of other geniuses in the galaxy.” 

Much to John’s surprise, Sherlock didn't immediately question why she said galaxy instead of world. The army doctor then stiffened, seeing the detective search through imaginary information. 

“So then this device is alien?” The detective deduced

“Ding ding!” she said in a sing-songy voice. “Almost there Sherlock.” Annoyed, Holmes went back to studying the device. Watson stared at her wide eyed. Seeing this, she told him, “Yes, I know who you are too, John Watson. It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” John asked as he got out of his chair. 

“Aurelia Arellano.” she stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Sherlock didn’t expect her to have a name such as that. Aurelia meant gold while Arellano was harder to place. It was Spanish in origin, however.

“Technically,” the eighteen-year-old continued, “I don’t exist. And I won’t exist for a little over two thousand years.” 

Watson’s eyes widened and his mouth hung agape. “Two thousand years?! That can’t be real! Time travel and aliens are  _ not _ real!”

“Then what do you suppose was the battle of the Canary Wharf?” Aurelia challenged him, giving the man a look. “Did you not see the giant spaceship that crashed into Big Ben? Did you not see the floating alien robots?”

The doctor’s mouth hung agape. “But, surely that wasn’t-”

“Of course they’re real John,” Sherlock sighed. 

“What?!” John exclaimed as if it was the biggest revelation of his life.

“And everyone’s an idiot to deny their existence,” Holmes added. The girl’s facial expression requested an explanation. “I hacked into Torchwood’s and Unit’s servers a few years ago.”

“Of course you did,” she sighed. She then smiled. 

Before either of them could continue the conversation, John wanted answers. “Wait a minute, what the bloody hell is Torchwood and Unit?” John questioned the two of them.

Just as the woman opened her mouth, Sherlock spoke. “Torchwood  _ was  _ an organization that dealt with aliens and alien technology as well as a phenomenon called the Rift.” He paused, his tongue clicked on the inside of his mouth. Before he explained further, he wanted to say something that John would understand. “Before the whole incident with the children last year, members of Torchwood were hunted down.”

“Well,” the young woman glanced up at the ceiling in thought. “Most of us are still alive and kicking.” 

The detective gave her a strange look. “You worked for Torchwood?” After the question left his mouth, he knew it made sense. She’s a time traveler and deals with alien weaponry. She definitely doesn’t seem like the type to work for Unit. Then again, she didn’t come up when he hacked Torchwood’s database. Perhaps she was just a recent addition.

“Yes, I did. For three years.” Her lips pressed themselves into a thin line as she nodded awkwardly. The girl then tried to make conversation. “I’m assuming you’ve definitely heard of the Doctor then, haven’t you, Sherlock?”

Holmes froze again. The Doctor was a long standing case he had open. As to why she would even bring up the Doctor was a little confusing to him. Either she was trying to make conversation, or the Doctor had something to do with the device in his hands.

“What do you know about him?” Sherlock asked her.

“Only that my boss kept one of his hands in a jar.” She received weird looks from both of them. Sherlock was just plain disappointed, but John was amazed. “But don’t worry. Another hand grew back in its place, presumably.” Now  _ that  _ was of interest to consulting detective.

“How exactly can you just shrug that off?” John questioned through his confusion.

She shrugged. “I just can.” She stepped towards Sherlock. “Anyway, that device belongs to me, so if you could just-”

The detective interrupted her, giving her a blank stare with his deadpan voice. “You just said that this tech was alien, now you’re saying it belongs to you. You clearly are a human, so obviously it doesn’t rightfully belong to you.” 

Aurelia smiled before briefly tilting her head in thought. “While true, it was technically given to me as a gift by the alien who previously owned it.” He could see a certain type of fondness in her eyes. Maybe this person was dead? “Said alien is the same species as the Doctor, by the way.”Ah, there’s the connection. And, judging by her tone, she isn’t joking. “They’re Time Lords. That thing in your hands belonged to them. All the circular symbols you see are their written language.” She said belonged, not belongs. What happened to them? Death? Most likely. 

So it’s of sentimental value then? Why would she place it in the hands of a stranger? Holmes held out the device to her as a gesture. “Why did you slip it into my pocket?”

“I slipped the Sonic Screwdriver into your pocket because I figured it would be safe with you for a limited amount of time.” Sherlock looked at her as if she just spoiled all the fun by saying the device’s name. “Didn’t want it to get damaged while I fought off some people. If you were any other person, you’d get retconned after this.”

The man hummed. Ah, yes, Retcon, the drug that made people forget. This girl, whoever she was, was clever. She must have figured that he would do whatever he could to regain lost memory. 

“Now, I’d like my Sonic Screwdriver back, please,” Aurelia stated, taking a small step closer to him. She also held her hand out.

“Who was chasing you?” He could tell she was getting annoyed at all the questions.

“No one you should worry about. Their death sentence is currently counting down thanks to their mayor.” 

“Wait a minute, why are people getting the death sentence?” Watson wondered. “And what do you mean their mayor?! Shouldn’t they have the same mayor as us?”

Her head tilted different directions as she listed the reasons. “Where this all happened was a special refugee camp for aliens governed by a woman called Mayor Me. Theft from inside her jurisdiction, as well as murder, and attempted murder. Not to mention a robbery/murder of a jewelry store.”

John averted his gaze with a curt, “Oh.”

Aurelia sighed turning back to Sherlock. “Now, can you give me my Sonic back please?” She was met with silence. “I really don’t want to send you to the hospital, but if necessary, I will.”

The three of them stood there in that room for a while in uncomfortable, tense silence.

“Sherlock, why don’t you just give the girl her Sonic?” John reasoned. Did he think she was kidding with the last comment? Or maybe he just didn’t want people to get hurt. Well, he is a doctor. Then there was Mrs. Hudson to consider. She would probably yell her lungs out if they wrecked all the furniture.

“Fine,” Sherlock stated, handing the device to her.

“Well, it’s been fun, boys, but I must be off.” She walked out of the building. 

Sherlock watched her cross the street from their window. She walked as if she was precautious. Her eyes continuously switched from looking at the ground to the people. The detective also made a mental note to find out more about her. The detective still didn’t know what the Sonic Screwdriver did and it irked him. And he also didn’t get a chance to see how she fought. Not hacking into Torchwood within the last three years was a mistake on his part. Aurelia would probably kill for that device -- her threatening a hospital visit was just her being nice -- given that it is the only thing of her Time Lord friend left. Perhaps he’d get another chance. 

John tried to make conversation as he went back to his chair. “She was a strange one, don’t you think?” 

The detective could only hum in response. He only watched as the mysterious young woman wandered far from his view. 

“I thought she was rather nice,” Hudson stated as she walked into the room, presumably to ask how the conversation went. “She could potentially live in the flat below me.”

The army vet hadn’t expected that. “Really?” he asked as he turned towards her.

“Well yes, she’s looking for a place to stay.”

That would create ample opportunity to interact with her again. If he managed to run into her before she made any sort of decision, he’d be sure to lobby for Hudson’s building. There was just an itch he just couldn’t scratch about her Sonic Screwdriver.


	2. The Coma Ward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Aurelia investigates something, she finds a machine that should not be in the public's reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could have very well posted this as a separate thing all together, but I chose not to.

It’s been about two months since she’s moved into 221 C. She’s settled in nicely. She occasionally helps Mrs. Hudson out with doing things around the house and the older woman teaches her how to cook. Aurelia barely lets John blog about her with a strict policy of mentioning no alien equipment or people.

With much of her Torchwood money still existent, Aurelia hasn’t looked for a job yet. Maybe once it does, she should give Agent Johnson a call. The young adult shook the thought from her mind. Sure, she definitely has the skills for espionage and military operations, but that doesn’t mean she wants to do them on a day to day basis. Besides, she’s too busy working the cases that Sherlock doesn’t want to. For example, two days ago, a concerned citizen reported a neighbor missing.

Before going off, she told John and Sherlock, “If I don’t come back within sixteen hours, I’ve been captured, arrested, or killed, alright?”

Sherlock didn’t seem to pay any mind, but John made a verbal response. “Yeah, got it, stay safe!”

Upon checking the woman’s flat, Aurelia found nothing. So, she found the missing person’s sister’s house to ask a few questions. No one was there, however. No one was there, and the door was unlocked. Aurelia found a small stash of poison under a bathroom sink, but nothing else suspicious. The place itself was immaculately clean, save for a few spots where small framed pictures used to be. It was almost as if the evidence was planted there by someone. She decided to question the sibling. The missing woman’s twin sister worked in a coma ward at a brick-laid hospital. It held the vibe of a private institution.

“Excuse me, miss?” Aurelia asked, walking up to the sister cautiously. The two stood in the hospital leading up to the ward. Moira seemed more surprised about her accent than anything.

“Oh, hi,” said the woman as she turned around to greet her. She held a clipboard. “Is there something I can do for you?” Her posture seemed relaxed, but the young adult could feel her nervousness.

Aurelia shifted her weight. “You are Moira Banks is that right?”

Moira nodded. “That’s right.”

“I’m actually here to ask you about your sister.” Anxiousness exuded off the woman.

She adopted a worried expression. “My sister? Why? What’s going on?”

“She went missing a couple of days ago. I was wondering if you heard anything.”

The woman’s eyes widened and her mouth hung agape. “Uh, no, no I haven’t heard anything.”

The young woman nodded. “Would it be alright if I just had a look around?”

“Uh, sure, of course.” She made a gesture as if offering to take her somewhere. They walked for a long while. Aurelia wondered if this woman was going to try to get the drop on her. She wondered how long this woman was going to drag this out. Moira was getting increasingly nervous.

They walked into a wing where multiple patients were stationed. Most of them were unconscious, save for one. Her eyes were open, but unmoving. Something was covering her mouth. It was probably a feeding tube. She looked nearly identical to Moira, save for the hair. Aurelia walked closer to her, bringing out her Sonic Screwdriver. She positioned her body in a way that the nurse wouldn't see. The Sonic did a quick scan. This woman here is the missing sister, she’s paralyzed, but she can see and hear.

“What did you do to her?” Aurelia asked, immediately chiding herself. It was a stupid question. She chided herself again when she realized that she should have kept an eye on the nurse.

“I don’t have to answer to you,” Moira told Aurelia before stabbing a syringe into her neck. The young woman soon fainted.

When Aurelia woke up, she saw a light shining into her right eye. “You’ve got yourself into quite the situation, haven’t you?” She recognized that voice, but couldn’t believe she was hearing it.

“Owen?” she asked him. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping you out,” he stated. “Besides, everyone else is sad when you’re not around.” The man smiled.

“Don’t be daft, you sod,” she breathed out a laugh. 

“Who’s Owen?” Moira’s voice cut straight through the eighteen-year-old’s hallucination. Her face came into view.

“No one really,” Aurelia dodged. The woman opened her other eye to shine the same flashlight into. The younger female chose to look at the windows on the ceiling instead. They were dark, meaning it was night. Arellano wondered if she just hallucinated. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

“Would it have mattered?” Moira questioned, checking the IV. “You’re not police.”

The eighteen-year-old’s eyes widened. “Is that really your standard?”

Her hand swatted the air. “Never mind that. And if you’re just noticing now, the solution I gave you takes away the feeling in your legs. You can’t move.” Arellano tried to move her lower limbs but frowned, knowing that she was right.

“Of course you did that,” Arellano sighed. She then remembered something. “Did you take pictures from your sister’s flat?”

She tried to play it off as if it were nothing, but the empath could feel her anxiety. “How would you notice that?” 

The young adult shrugged. “I just can for some reason.”

The older woman looked as though she didn’t really care. “Yeah, well, have fun trying to escape here.” She waved the young adult off as she walked away.

Hours later, Arellano awoke to the sound of glass breaking. She saw figures on the stained glass ceiling windows. She could sense their anger and lust. The young woman sat up, tensing. Glancing to her right, she found something she could break off from the wall to defend herself with. Just as the Reavers broke through the glass and fell to the floor, she broke the item off the wall and pointed it at them.

However, they were no longer there. Was that a dream? Had she been hallucinating them? She must have. What else could be the explanation? That’s her second time hallucinating since getting here. Did Moira drug her? Or was this a product of her own mind?

The next time she saw the woman, Moira had a strange device in her hands. It was alien to be sure. This particular device would send shockwaves through any being’s system. The Shadow Proclamation used it sometimes in their interrogations. It must have slipped through the rift and exchanged hands multiple times.

“What do you know?” she questioned the young woman.

“That device doesn’t scare me, you know,” Aurelia informed her. She then noticed that she wore a hospital gown. Where were her actual clothes? And where was her Sonic Screwdriver?

She placed her free hand on her hip. “Well, it should. And that device you carried in with you is quite interesting. Where’d you get it?”

The younger woman’s eyes squinted with suspicion. “Why should I tell you anything?”

Moira didn’t verbally respond. Instead, she turned her device on and touched it to Aurelia’s side. A painful wave of shock washed through her like a tidal wave. The eighteen-year-old’s optics widened, pained. She could have sworn that she saw a woman telling her not to struggle while people cut into her amygdala.

When the device retreated, the vision stopped. The young woman tried not to let her emotions show.

“That was one of the lower settings,” she told her. “You could go brain dead if I used the highest one.”

Arellano smiled despite herself. “Is that what you did to your sister?” The remark only earned her another shock. It was three settings higher than the first. This time, the young woman released a pained cry.

“I’ll ask again, what do you know?”

Her chest heaved. Something was off, and the eighteen-year-old knew it had something to do with the poison. “I found a stash of poison in your flat.”

The woman shocked her again. She believed Aurelia to be lying. “I clean up better than that.”

“Then they must have planted it.”

She peered at the girl, confused. “What ‘they?’” 

Arellano grinned. “There’s always a ‘they.’” She shifted her position. “And if they are planting things in the place where you live, then they are making you a scapegoat.”

Moira stepped back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The corner’s of Aurelia’s mouth widened. “Oh, but don’t I?” She shrugged. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? There’s a misstep that involves your sister, so you make her like that.” She jerked her head towards the comatose woman laying two beds away. “Suddenly, they don’t think you can handle the tasks that they’ve given you, so they throw you to the wolves, knowing that someone would come investigate eventually.”

“You’ve been here for almost a day. No one’s come for you, so I’m assuming you’re working alone on this.”

Arellano shrugged again. “I might be. Or I might not be, I don’t know at the moment.” The older woman gave her a weird look. Thinking of something, the younger pursed her lips before smiling again. “Why have you even been talking to me? Are you so lonely that-”

“Shut up!” shouted Moira as she rushed towards the eighteen-year-old. She played right into her hands. 

Once close enough, she stabbed her. Then, she tore the IV still in her arm and moved to the ground. Aurelia crawled out of the room. She wondered if Moira would go after her even with a stab wound. Either way, Arellano didn’t feel like finding out. She used as much strength and speed as she could as her hands grappled to the ground to move her forward.

Unfortunately for her, she heard hard footsteps approaching her from behind. Next, a needle shoved itself into her neck. Everything went black.

When Aurelia woke up again, she found herself back in bed. She heaved a long sigh. Slightly angered, the girl banged her head against the headboard. 

“You really wanna injure yourself further?” Moira questioned her as she stepped into the room.

“Are you the only one working here?” she countered immediately. She gave the woman a curious glance.

Her lips pursed. “This is a private hospital. There’s a security guard, and a janitor, but he has specific hours.”

Aurelia fought the urge to scoff. “By the information you’re giving me, either there’s no one else, or whoever ‘they’ are running this hospital.”

Moira glanced at the floor for a small moment. “You have an American accent. Can I ask where you’re from? And how old are you?”

Arellano deflected with another question. “Out of all the things they could have planted in your flat, they choose poison. Why? Were other victims of theirs poisoned? What exactly are you involved in?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“And yet you’ve already said so much.” The younger laughed at the elder’s scowl. “I’m guessing that’s the same poison you used to make your sister the way she is.” She wondered if it had anything to do with the clinical trials Sherlock was looking into. A lot of people who were going to be whistle-blowers for the trials went missing.

Aurelia exhaled before adding, “By the way, did you give me something that would make me hallucinate?”

Moira gave the girl a strange look. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“So I _am_ going crazy, that’s nice to know,” the eighteen-year-old murmured. Her eyes then widened slightly. “Oh, did I say that out loud?” Before the woman could even open her mouth, she said, “Nevermind. Don’t answer that.”

“Hey!” shouted someone from the halls. “You can’t just barge in here-” Aurelia assumed that was the guard, and he was just knocked out.

“Aurelia!” That was John’s voice.

“John! I’m-” she felt a needle hit her skin.

_“Stop! Please! Tíng!” She shouted at the researchers currently cutting into her amygdala._

_“Again!” The fighting instructor shouted at her upon completing a move. He wanted nothing less than perfection._

_“Liú kôushî de biâozî hé hóuzî de bén ézri!” She insulted an Alliance officer who tried to take her into custody after she was recaptured._

Aurelia woke up with a start. She then noticed the bed sheets and the non-cream colored walls. Her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself down. She was safe, in her own bed. She felt the presence of someone who felt immense joy. The eighteen-year-old with long black hair didn’t notice Mrs. Hudson was there until she shot up from her seat. The girl’s clothes sat on top of the dresser.

“Boys! She’s awake!” the older woman cried. Before leaving, she turned towards the girl she said, “I’ll go make you a cuppa.” A rush of footsteps followed the words down a flight of stairs. John Watson appeared in the room first, followed by Sherlock (though he traveled at a slower pace).

“How, uh, how are you feeling?” the retired army doctor questioned. He moved to check the girl over.

“I’m fine, relax,” she said, swatting his hand away.

“We got these for you,” he said as he handed her the Sonic Screwdriver and the Shadow Proclamation Taser. “Figured you’d want them.”

Arellano shifted her position. “I very much do, thanks,” she told them as she took both devices in hand. “How long did it take you to find me?”

“Not too long once we made a few connections.” Sherlock stated. “She was working with someone who had ties to the suspicious clinical trials I investigated yesterday.”

The young woman smiled. “I thought so. Is she in custody?”

“Yes, but she isn’t saying anything.”

Aurelia sighed. “Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised.”

“What’d you get from her?”

“The poison in her flat was planted by people who wanted to dump her, use her as a scapegoat. Obviously, she poisoned her sister and made her disappear because she found out about something Moira was doing. In fact, I think a few of those people might have been whistle-blowers.”

“Naturally.”

“Sherlock, stop grilling her for information,” Mrs. Hudson chidded as she emerged with a hot cup of hot chocolate. “She’s only just woken up.”

“Ooh.” Aurelia’s eyes lit up when she saw the mug. The young woman placed the alien devices on the nightstand before reaching for the hot cocoa. “Thank you, Mrs. Hudson.”

“You’re quite welcome, dear.”

John shifted his weight. He and her shared a look. Then, the man made a gesture as if to usher Sherlock out. “Aurelia, why don’t you get some rest, then we can see about your legs, okay?”

The young woman hummed and nodded. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, she’s already fine,” Sherlock told him as the people walked out of the room. 

“She still needs rest, Sherlock,” Watson told him. “She’s been through quite the ordeal. We still don’t know how she is mentally.”

Aurelia already knew the answer to that, and she wasn’t fine. She was hallucinating things about her past. They were things she knew were no longer possible. The girl scoffed. If Jack and Gwen could see her now, what would they say?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


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